Page 75 of Night Watch
She slid in next to Kennedy. “Found something I thought you guys would want to know about right away.”
Erik swiveled to look between the seats in time to see Sierra hand a plastic bag to Kennedy.
She studied the bag. “What is this?”
“A prickly caterpillar bean,” Sierra said.
Kennedy passed the evidence bag to Erik. He’d never seen anything like the reddish-and-white striped curly bean with tiny spikes running along the edge. He gave the bag back to Sierra. “How do you know about this, but more importantly, what does it have to do with our investigation?”
“I had to research the beans for a previous investigation. They aren’t native to Oregon. The beans are a French heirloom, and the seeds are hard to come by. Likely only a very avid gardener or a plant collector would have this plant in their garden.”
“Why do you think it was here then?” Kennedy asked.
“My best guess is it caught on the suspect’s pant leg in his garden, and then it fell off near the river.”
“Or it’s not from him at all,” Drake said.
“Or that.” Sierra narrowed her gaze at their brother. “But the odds are just as good that it is from him. I found it near boot prints that I think match the prints I recovered from Wanda’s deck. I won’t know if I have a definitive match until the cast cures.”
“Which will be when exactly?” Erik asked.
“Three days.” Sierra and Kennedy said the words at the same time then laughed.
“We can’t wait that long.” Erik knew he was scowling at them, but come on. Three days of not having an answer when Kennedy’s life was in danger was too long. “We’ll go ahead and cross-reference gardening and biology against the list of Responsible Officials.”
“I thought you didn’t have that yet,” Drake said.
“Not yet,” Erik said, trying to sound optimistic. “But I’m sure someone will come through for us.”
“Sure,” Drake said. “We might get it, but it could take longer than the cast curing.”
Erik clenched his jaw and wished his brother didn’t feel the need to point out every problem. Erik worked hard not to snap at him. “Until we get the list, we can go back through Wanda’s contacts to see if we can find a gardening connection there.”
“That sounds like a good plan, Erik.” Kennedy fired a testy look at Drake.
Erik’s mouth almost fell open. She was sticking up for him, as she’d often done in the past. In those instances, he’d always thought about what a wonderful partner and mother she would be. Championing her husband and children more than anything else. And he’d lost out on that when she’d said goodbye to him.
But you have another chance.
He shook his head, hoping the idea he wasn’t ready to face would disappear, but it lingered. He turned his focus to Sierra. “Anything else, or can we get Kennedy back to the office?”
“That’s all for now, but I’ll have Grady run ballistics on the gun after I print it, and I’ll let you know what I find.”
Erik was thankful this scene hadn’t been taken over by the task force, or Sierra wouldn’t be able to share her findings. But it was just a matter of time before they discovered the same information and took over.
Sierra rested a hand on Kennedy’s arm. “Keep up your spirits. We might not have anything concrete now, but we’ll figure this out.”
Kennedy smiled. “I know, and thank you for taking time from your leave to do this work.”
“Are you kidding? I love my son, but I’m ready to get back to this.”
“So you’re going back to work, then?”
“Part-time at first. We’ve found a great nanny, and there are perks of living in the building, I can pop upstairs whenever Asher needs me. It’s the perfect scenario.”
“Sounds like it.”
“Can we end the baby talk and get going?” Erik asked.
